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There’s still time to show your holiday generosity

Michael Bennett

What happens when you run a fund-raiser and no one person participates? Many local area residents will suffer. Through Nov. 16, we had received only one donation. We thank the one family in Garfield County who came forward for that donation. That’s right, despite all of the advertising and stories we have printed, we have had just one donation. But there is still time to give.The Glenwood Springs Post Independent and the Rifle Citizen Telegram teamed up for our first holiday fund. We received 14 grant requests for many very good causes. You may have read about these folks in recent stories. Unless you come forward with more donations, we’ll only be able to partially fund about five of these requests.We have raised nearly $3,000 toward our goal of $10,000. More than $2,700 has come from our newspapers and our employees.I figured raising $10,000 would be a cakewalk in a large and giving community like Garfield County. If just 1,500 of our nearly 50,000 residents donated only $5 each, we’d be over our goal.There are many reasons provided for our lack of success. I’ve been told that people give much less during a presidential election year. Things are tight and people just don’t have the money to give this year. Or, everyone is giving to all of these organizations directly already. Or, this is just a new fund and will take time to develop. One naysayer told me “good luck trying to raise money in this area.”I have found Garfield County residents to be very warm and giving people. The support for my Kiss ‘N’ Squeal campaign was great – you helped me raise more than $20,000 for YouthZone. I hope we see the same kind of last-minute support for our Holiday Fund.People should give because it feels good to help others; give because your donation is tax deductible; give because you want to teach your children a good civics lesson. Or you can give because you know it is your responsibility to help others in need.If you don’t already make contributions to the many good causes in the area, please make a donation. If you already do support our community needs, send us that $5 or $10 that’s sitting in your pocket. We will recognize everyone that gave as well as where all of the money went at the beginning of the new year.If you prefer to remain anonymous let us know and we’ll respect your privacy.Mike Bennett is the publisher of the Glenwood Springs Post Independent and Rifle Citizen Telegram.


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